Lemon-squeezer.



J. A. & J. C. COOPER.

LEMON SQUEEZER.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 12 l9l4.

1,15,933. Patented Sept. 7, 1915.

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(IA. Coo ver e76". goo Der JAMES A. COOPER AND JOEL C. COOPER, OF DALLAS, TEXAS.

I LEMON-SQUEEZER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

' Patented Sept. 7, 1915.

Application filed July 13, 1914. Serial No. 850,573.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that we, JAMES A. Coornn and JOEL C. COOPER, citizens of the United States, residing at Dallas, in the county of Dallas and State of Texas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Lemon-Squeezers, of which the following is a s ecification.

ur invention relates to a new and useful lemon squeezer, and its object is to provide a device primarily designed for the convenience of clerks at soda fountains which will thoroughly squeeze the juice from a lime or lemon in a moments time, a single operation serving to cut the lime or lemon into two halves and subsequently squeeze the same, removing the juice therefrom.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a device of the character described, so constructed that the operator may squeeze only one-half of a lime or lemon at a time.

Still another object is to provide a lime or lemon squeezer operated by a lever which when elevated to permit the fruit to be introduced into the chamber in which it is squeezed, will simultaneously throw open a door provided to the bottom of said chamber so as to discharge therefrom the rind of the friut previously squeezed.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a device of the character described, that will be strong, durable, efiicient and simple and comparatively inexpensive to produce, also one in which the several parts will not be likely to get out of workin order.

ith the above and other objects in view, the invention has relation to certain novel features of construction and operation, an example of which is described in the following specification and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 is a plan view of my invention. Fig. 2 is a view of the same in side elevation. Fig. 3 is a view in rear elevation of the upper portion of my device. Fig. 4 is ahorizontal sectional view taken upon the line aa of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view taken upon bb of Fig. 1. Fig. 6 is a detail section through the squeezing chamber, taken upon 0-0 of Fig.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing, wherein like reference characters designate similar parts in all the figures, the numeral 1 denotes a base plate, to which iscentrally secured a rectangular bracket 2 wlth which is integrally formed a centrally upstanding socket 3. Into said socket is threaded the lower end of a short length of pipe 4, the upper end of which is inserted in a socket 5 depending from a curved plate 6, a set screw 7 being employed to hold the socket 5 in a rigid relation with the pipe 4. The plate 6 is rigidly secured by cap screws or other fastening devices to the under side of the feed chute 8 of a squeezing chamber 9, the parts 8 and 9 being formed integral, the member 8 being of anarcuate tubular form, and the member 9 being substantially rectangular. The squeezing chamber is formed without a bottom, but is provided with a perforated closure 10, hinged at one side of the member 9 as indicated at 11 and adapted to swing upagainst the bottom of said member as shown in the drawings in full lines. From the top of the member 9, a pair of spaced lugs 12 project integrally upward, and between said lugs there is extended a horizontal pin 13, upon which are pivoted adjacently the rear ends of two levers 14 and 15, which in one of their limiting positions project forwardly as shown in full ines in the drawing, and in their other limiting position extend upwardly as indicated in dash lines in Fig. 2.

The forward ends of the levers 14 and 15' are respectively formed with integral handles 16 projecting laterally in opposite directions. The lever 15 differs from the lever 14 in that its rear end is formed with an integral arm 16 normally projecting upward, a coiled spring 17 being extended from the free end of said arm to a lug 18 projecting real-wardly from the closure 10. From the rear end of each lever 14 and 15, a curved arm 19 terminating in a semi-circular head 20 projects downwardly, the heads 20 being parallel and adjacent to the rear wall of the chamber 9 when the levers 14 and 15 are in their forwardly projecting limiting positions, as is clearly shown in Fig. 5. When the two levers are in their raised position (projecting upwardly), the

heads 20 are spaced a suflicient distance above the opening of the chute 8 to permit a lemon or lime to be inserted therein.

Closely adjacent to the chamber 9, a knife blade 21 is extended diametrically across the opening of the chute 8, said blade being passed downwardly through suitable slots formed in said member 8 at the top and bottom thereof. These slots are so placed and proportioned that the cutting edge of the blade 21 will squarely encounter a lime or lemon as it is forced rearwardly through the chute by a downward pressure upon the levers 14; and 15, cutting the fruit into halves. A head 21 is formed upon the upper end of the blade 21 preventing slipping down through the correlated slots and permitting it to be withdrawn at any time to be sharpened.

In using this device, the operator will insert a lime or lemon in the chute 8 after having elevated the levers 14 and 15 to their upwardly projecting positions. The levers are then shifted downwardly until the lime or lemon has been forced rearwardly into the squeezing chamber 9 and during this motion has been cut into halves by the blade 21. If it be desired to extract the juice from both halves, a downward pressure is continued upon both levers, the two halves of the fruit being thereby flattened out between the heads 20 and the rear wall of the chamber 9, removing practically all of the juice from the fruit. This juice will escape through the perforations of the closure 10 and may be drained into a suitable receptacle disposed beneath the chamber 9 upon the platform 1. While the levers are in their lowermost positions, a tension acting in the spring 17 holds the closure 10 securely pressed against the bottom of the chamber 9. After the juice has been drained out of the squeezing chamber, the handles 14: and 15 will be thrown up to the position illustrated in dash lines in Fig. 2, this motion serving to relieve the tension of the spring 17 to such an extent that the door 10 is allowed to swing open as illustrated in dash lines in Fig. 2, the rind of the lime or lemon thus being allowed to drop out of the squeezing chamber. If the operator wishes to extract the juice from only one-half of the cut lime or lemon, the lever 15 alone will be pressed downwardly after the fruit has been forced past the knife blade 21, thus squeezing only the half of the fruit lying in the right hand portion of the chamber 9. Subsequently the other half may be squeezed by exerting pressure downwardly on both of the levers.

What we claim is:

1. In a device of the character described, the combination with a body forming a squeezing chamber and having its bottom open, of a perforated hinged closure mounted upon said body and ada ted to rest against the bottom thereof, a ever having one extremity pivoted upon said body, a curved arm projecting downwardly from said lever, and a head formed upon the free end of said arm, said head being parallel and adjacent to the rear wall of the squeezing chamber within the same when the lever is lowered, and being spaced above the inlet of the squeezing chamber when the lever is raised.

2. In a device of the character described, the combination with a body forming a squeezing chamber and having its bottom open, of a perforated closure hinged upon said body and bearing against the bottom thereof in one of its limitingpositions, a lever pivoted at one end of said body, an arm projecting from the pivoted end of said lever, a spring extending from said arm to said closure, a curved arm projecting downwardly from the lever in one limiting position thereof, and entering the squeezing chamber, a head formed upon the free end of said arm spaced from the rear wall of the squeezing chamber, in said position of said lever, said head being spaced above the inlet of the squeezing chamber in the other limiting position. of the lever and the tension of said spring being relaxed in the other limiting position allowing said perforated closure to swing open.

3. In a device of the character described, the combination with a body forming a squeezing chamber, the bottom of said chamber being open, of a perforated closure hinged upon said body and bearing against the bottom thereof in one of its limiting positions, an arcuate chute having commumcation with the squeezing chamber at the front thereof, a knife blade mounted to traverse diametrically in the rear portion of said chute its edge being directed forwardly, two levers pivoted at one end upon each body, curved arms projecting downwardly from the pivoted end of said levers in one of the limiting positions thereof, heads provided upon the free ends of said arms, said heads being within the squeezing chamber and closely adjacent to the rear wall thereof in said limiting position of the levers, said heads being spaced above the inlet of said chute in the other limiting position of the levers.

4. In a device of the character described, the combination with a body forming a squeezing chamber the bottom of which is open, of a perforated closure for the bottom of said chamber, hinged upon the body and leaving the bottom of the squeezing chamber unobstructed when swung downward, a pair of levers each ivoted at one end upon the squeezing cham er, an arm projecting from the pivoted end of one of said levers, a spring extending from said arm to said closure allowing the closure to hang down in one position of said lever and maintainin it firmly pressed against the bottom of sai body in the other limiting position of said lever, arms similarly projecting downward from the pivoted ends of said levers, and heads formed upon the rear ends of said arms, the heads being within the squeezing chamber adjacent to the rear wall thereofwhen the levers are down and spaced above the inlet of the squeezing chamber when the levers are up.

5. In a device of the character described, the combination with a body forming a squeezing chamber, having its bottom open,

of a perforated closure hinged upon said body, an arcuate chute formed integral with said body at the front thereof and communicating with the squeezing chamber, a knife blade extending diametrically across said chute at the rear thereof, its edge being directed toward the inlet of the chute, apair of levers each pivoted at one end upon said body, an arm projecting from the pivoted end of one of said levers, a spring extending from said arm to said closure, an arm projecting downwardly from each lever, and a head formed upon the bottom end of each arm, in one limiting position, said closure being maintained by said spring tightly pressed against the bottom of said body, and the heads of said arms being inserted in the squeezing chamber closely adjacent to the rear wall thereof, and in the other limiting position of said arms, the tension of said spring being relaxed allowing the closure to fall clear of the outlet of the squeezing chamber, and the heads being spaced above the inlet of said chute.

In testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JAMES A. COOPER. JOEL C. COOPER.

Witnesses:

A. CAsEY, R. E. E. BRUCKNER. 

